Was it really ever a choice?

Your fist wasted no time in banging heavily against the door leading into the home containing your... his... the family. 

(Y/n): Yukari! Maya! I-I'm here! Please open up!

You cried out in a desperate tone as another splitting headache ripped through your skull. It felt like molten lead was burrowing into your head as your fist crashed against the wooden door once more. The hinges creaked under the intensity of your knocking as your patience grew thin due to frayed nerves overpressured by adrenaline and fear. 

(Y/n): I... I will pay for it later!

You spoke out while stepping back to step forward once more and deliver a firm kick to the doorway. The door let out a splintering sound though remained firmly in place before you delivered another vicious kick. This time the doorknob visibly cracked and the door caved in slightly. With one last kick, the door flew inward and crashed into something, the doorknob thudding on the carpet inside the home. Your crazed gaze scanned the house though you didn't notice any signs of life. The preparations for dinner were halfway completed with lunch still left on a small table in the tiled kitchen. Gulping softly, you took a step inside before a smell filled your nostrils. It was pungent and seemed to surround you drawing you into a simple conclusion that frightened you to no end. 

(Y/n): Metallic? Y-Yukari! Maya are you here?! Answer me!

Stumbling forward, you nearly tripped over a small coffee table before you jogged down the hallway, glancing at each room before coming up to a room that caused your blood to freeze over. It was a... little girl's room. Pink and purple fill your eyes along with scattered toys and crayon-filled drawings. It was a sweet and wholesome room... ruined by the obscene amount of carnage... as well as a large splatter of blood under and on the shattered windowsill. 

(Y/n): M-Maya... Maya! 

Your voice sounds foreign to your ears, like watching yourself speak through a video recorder. Each step toward the window brought with you a sense of growing dread. Your head throbbed in pain as you took note of something important. There was a lot of blood on the carpet under the window but there were no broken shards of glass on the carpet amongst the carnage. Glancing outside you could see some glass on the ground but not enough to definitively say whether the window was smashed from within or not. Either way, this was the only shot you had at finding your... those two... as the house was deserted after whatever took place. 

CRASH

The sound of something heavy falling in another room caused you to nearly jump out of your skin. It was instinct to be cautious but you were at the end of an already fraying rope as you found yourself standing in another bedroom staring at more signs of combat. This room was much more mature with dark simple colors. Your mind instantly drifted to Yukari though other than the destroyed belongings and now collapsed shelf, there was no blood. There was broken glass but it was on... a case? You stepped forward toward her bed to find a glass case shattered and lying on the bed a... gun. At least it was the first thing you thought of. You had seen the devil hunters use other guns before and saw hunters using them but this one seemed to flip out and load the bullets manually. Carefully lifting the gun, you looked out the small flipped-out cylinder to see two bullets slotted into it. A sense of nostalgia tugged at your fingers as you twisted your wrist quickly and watched the cylinder slot into place before your thumb pulled the hammer back. Inside the case also sat something that you had not expected to find. It caught your eye with its bright color tucked away in the corner of the case. Your fingers pinched the tip of the cloth before pulling it free to reveal... a bright orange tie with little carrots on it.

(Y/n): Carrot cake... Huh... Guess this was yours... mine... Hah...

Your head throbbed in pain so badly that you could feel a twinge of pain even in the roots of your teeth. You wouldn't be surprised if you melted away right then and there. But you couldn't do that just yet...

???: Hello? Anyone home?

A voice called out from the front where you had just been. Your finger slipped against the trigger of the revolver following that instinct from before as you clutched the tie in your other hand and slipped out quietly into the living room. The dark metal of the revolve pointing the barrel at a familiar face.

Mafuyu: Sheesh kid! Didn't anyone tell you not to play with those things?!

(Y/n): Mafuyu...? What... What are you doing here?

Mafuyu: I was on the way home from getting groceries when I heard complete chaos breaking out. Tried to investigate it but found you running down the the street like a psychopath. So I decided to follow you to make sure you weren't doing something crazy and what do I find? You kicking in somebody's door.

(Y/n): Oh yeah that... Um... We need to go. Things aren't safe around here and I... have things to look for.

Mafuyu: You don't have to tell me twice. This place gives me the creeps for some reason. 

(Y/n) Ah wait, look what I found.

You weren't sure if it was a good idea to reveal this to Mafuyu. On one hand, she dearly missed her son and this was the last family she had left... but on the other perspective, Yukari clearly hadn't made an attempt to contact Mafuyu either. W-Wait why are you wondering about family dynamics when your wife and child were missing? Shaking your head, you stretched out your clenched fist to show off the carrot tie. A small grin of triumph pulled onto your face like a child finding something at the store their parent actually wanted but that light of recognition you had expected to see in those old eyes wasn't there. In fact, there didn't seem to be any emotion at all as Mafuyu spoke.

Mafuyu: Why would you show me this?

(Y/n): Y-You know... the carrot tie?

Mafuyu: I... don't know what you're talking about. Let's get out of here.

Mafuyu turned away from you and your mind seemed to snap. Your nerves sparked like broken power lines as the hand clenched around the handle of the revolver tightened even more. That pounding headache returned and threatened to split your head in two as your brain tried to conjure up a radical solution to what had just happened because it simply couldn't understand the logic of it anymore. 

(Y/n): S-She's just confused... calm down-

(Y/n): It's him! He shapeshifted into Mafuyu!

(Y/n): She's older so she could have forgotten! It's just a stupid tie!

(Y/n): She wouldn't forget the tie! She told the story! Kill him!

(Y/n): You will regret killing your mother for the rest of your miserable life!

(Y/n): It's not our mother! It's a monster!

Whatever you were was reaching its breaking point. The left and right brain were in open conflict with each other and your body was on the verge of breaking down. You couldn't figure out who you were anymore. You were (Y/n) (L/n)... but was that the human trapped in devil form or a fiend using a corpse as skin? The question taunted you with a simplicity to its answer that you couldn't find in the labyrinth that was your mind. Your finger itched at a chance to kill but the fingers on your other hand were practically digging their nails into your palm to keep yourself focused. And Mafuyu was simply leaving. She didn't turn back but you knew why! 

She's just confused!

He's running! Kill him!

The bloodstained tie dropped to the ground as you grit your teeth, a sense of brutality filling your mind as you urge yourself to find a semblance of humanity... but you weren't human... right? The hand with blood pooling in the palm lifted to clench at your head as your other hand lifted to bring the revolver closer to your eye. A sense of familiarity came from the revolver that sat so perfectly in your palm but at the same time, the sanguine smell of iron calmed your animalistic instinct. Devolving into your base instincts of a pained creature trapped in a corner... you couldn't help but call out to others for some sense of relief.

(Y/n): P-Power... Aki... M-Makima where are you?

You quietly asked out as you wanted an answer. Any answer to calm your growingly disrupted mind? You just wanted a simple answer.

(Y/n): Tell me what I am... w-who I am!

Mafuyu finally stopped a few steps away from the doorway. A strange tension hung in the air as the older woman seemed to gather her thoughts.

Mafuyu: You're nobody but yourself. 

Mafuyu turned to look at you and a small spark of recognition finally filled her eyes as she stared down the barrel of a familiar revolver.

BANG

The loud sound of a gunshot cracked through the air followed by a heavy thud as your eyes trained and stared at the light puff of smoke that escaped the barely before your trembling (E/c) orbs trailed to look at Mafuyu. Her body lay in the entryway of the home with a frozen look of surprise on her face, perfectly frozen in time save for the hole where her left eye should be. 

(Y/n): Ma...M-Mafuyu?

Your tone was filled with relief and fear as you stared at what your mind was finally recognizing as... a corpse. Why did you do that? Why did you pull the trigger? Did her answer not fit? It was an answer. That's what you wanted... right? Emotions pounded through your chest and mind while all manner of broken human hormones tried to bring about some semblance of a reaction to the situation as you took a step forward... then another... and another until you stood over Mafuyu's body with that same blank look on your face.

(Y/n): Mafuyu... You're gonna... wake up, right? N-No you're going to shift? You're him. You have to be him...

Your knees gave out as you collapsed at the woman's side. The hand free of the murder weapon lifted and hesitantly reached out, pressing a finger against the woman's shoulder like a scared child.

(Y/n): M-Mafuyu? I was right. R-Right? I didn't do wrong?

Your lips trembled slightly as your eyes widened in recognition along with tears dribbling down over your cheeks.

(Y/n): Please wake up! N-No I was wrong! You're him! N-Not him! Fuck, what is wrong with me?! Give me a straight answer! 

You argued with no one in particular as you tried to wrestle back a sense of self but it seemed the divide had been completely broken. You raged at yourself while also deeply mourning Mafuyu... your caretaker... your mother. 

(Y/n): Y-You... you killed her! You fucking killed her you sonovabitch!

The revolver lifted to rest at the ride of your school, a few inches of space between the barrel and your ear.

(Y/n): I did the right thing! She's going to shift! That thing wasn't her!

(Y/n): She was my mother! My mom! You fucking killed her!

A primal scream escaped your throat out into the universe as you tried to pour your human emotions into it. Rage, guilt, sorrow, joy... Your finger itched with a familiar sense as your pointer finger coiled around the trigger and in a moment of true rebellion of one's self... you pulled the trigger to end this horrible nightmare.

BANG

The curtains should fall... where are the curtains? You waited for the nightmare to end and for you to wake up for a new day... yet nothing changed? You weren't sitting with Power, Denji, and Aki. There was no Himeno and her drunken tomfoolery or Kobeni with that smile to warm your heart.

???: You know we don't get the easy way out...

That voice... that fucking voice... Your tear-stained eyes peeled open but you were staring at nothing but the same corpse of... Mafuyu? 

(Y/n): No... N-No! No no no! This is a dream... let me wake up-

???: This is no dream. But a cold reality.

(Y/n): I didn't kill her! I didn't! Y-You... You...

The figure stepped out from behind you and stood on the opposite side of Mafuyu's body examining the bullet that would have gone through your school had he not intervened.

???: I didn't do anything. 

(Y/n): You took them! you led me here and Mafuyu followed a-and you knew! you knew that I would... 

Another sob wracked through your body as you tried to reconcile with the horrific act that appeared to be before your eyes.

???: Why do you assume it was me?

(Y/n): You had the motive! You wanted me to be miserable to fucking toy with me!

???: You know very well that I have many methods I could employ. What would I gain from sullying my hands with the blood of those creatures? 

(Y/n): Don't call them creatures... I fucking swear-

???: The wife and child are missing. The mother was slain. The pieces have fallen into place perfectly as she planned.

Your fingers trailed down to brush past Mafuyu's... they were still warm. You couldn't tell what was happening anymore in this fever dream you called reality. Was this really Mafuyu or a puppet? Perhaps a construct created by the figure? Who knows... who cares... What was the point of it anymore...

???: We do not have much time. If we want to succeed-

(Y/n): Succeed? Why should I give a single shit about that?

???: The others are still in danger. The pawns needed for the final-

(Y/n): Ah but you'll just kill them too right? You want me to find the mutilated corpses of my friends caused by your puppets. Or... will I need to kill them too?

The figure paused for a moment taking in the decrepit state of your mind and body as the revolver rolled out of your loosened grip onto the floor next to Mafuyu.

???: Answer me this. Why did you have so much free time?

(Y/n): What?

???: Power and Denji... even Aki are kept on a suffocatingly tight leash. Everyone is kept collared and obedient to the grand design... except for you. Why do you think that?

(Y/n): I don't understand your point...

???: Why would a... ugh... woman like Makima allow such a powerful ally like you to wallow in your emotions? To run yourself ragged with human emotions despite you being a fiend. You have base instincts that should have guided you and yet she insisted that you... take breaks and walks to clear your mind.

(Y/n): Speak clearly already you-

???: She planned this. All of it. Each path every step she had planned down to even your breaths. She knew where you would be to place the right props to further break you down. The tie. The bomb. Power's... therapy. All of it was designed to trap a beast far too powerful to tame on her own.

(Y/n): Makima wanted to trap me? Are you out of your mind? I don't know what devil you are but you clearly have no grasp on what I've done or who Makima is. Explain to me why she would need to be so convoluted to do this. If anything you're the one who led me to the smoking gun!

???: I will concede that she had you in the palm of her hand the entire time. But while your human form could be shackled like the others... your mind was a maze. A labyrinth she couldn't affect like she had the others. Your breakdown... she planned. You became lost in your own labyrinth and that witch planned to use you to find the center.

(Y/n): But... then why isn't she hear? I broke down... it's over and I don't know if I can ever come back...

???: Ordinarily, that would be the case... you would have rushed to the rescue of your friends, fell into mental collapse, and joined her legion. Makima is waiting for you even now to swoop in and save you. She would be your hero and earn your admiration... your lust... your everything. However, I discovered her little game and became the third participant. Instead of Makima, I found you first. We played her game until the finale but I broke the rules first and brought you here.

(Y/n): Why bring me here at all? Stop playing Makima's supposed game and tell me yours. Why do all this?

???: I already told you. We are two halves of the same whole. We can't exist without the other. We... are perfection. Unity... something beyond beauty that could not be described in human terms. We were torn asunder and split by... complications. A rebellion of the mind and spirit that led to an experiment in pain and suffering.

(Y/n): What the fuck are you talking about?

The figure finally knelt down closer to your height, pulling off his mask once more and tossing it aside to leave your dull (E/c) eyes staring into that abyss once more. That same crawling sensation of something being horrifically wrong filled your mind but also a sense of familiarity. Of nostalgia... like watching an old cartoon on the brink of tears. 

Uncanny: I... no... We... are Uncanny Valley. 

(Y/n): I don't understand...

Uncanny: We are fear. A primal fear that humanity has known for so long that they can't even remember. That sense of wrongness. It is why they develop so many emotions. Fear, sorrow, desperation... they seek to understand something they can't because it is them but... not them. Cold rational logic fighting against emotions. Uncanny Valley caused the brain to fear and feel at the same time. It is why we were perfect together... and broken while apart. I the rational logic... while you the emotion.

It made no sense at all. Two halves of a whole? Fear and logic but at the same time you couldn't deny him... at least not outright. Your various emotions... it was not necessary to say you gained them from your human side? Fiends are instinctual creatures and even your first display of emotion was rage... something Uncanny spoke of...

Uncanny: You attempted to meld your form to that of a willing human... but your form was not meant to last. Pure unbridled power being forced into a corpse. Ordinarily, you would achieve being a fiend that way. But in your case... it was like attempting to collapse the unbridled power of a hydrogen bomb... into a single bullet.

Uncanny accentuates the point by tossing the bullet you had used onto the ground next to the revolver. Your eyes linger on the bullet and the consequences it could have held but your mind was ravaged by too many emotions and hormones to properly function anymore.

Uncanny: Your mind is in a delicate state and by no means will accept this knowledge. If anything this will push you over the edge and this form will collapse like a failed chemical fusion.

(Y/n): So you're killing me off anyway? What am I supposed to do? Why should I trust you... or any of this?! Where are Yukari and Maya and where... is this the real Mafuyu or some construct by you or fucking Makima apparently?!

Uncanny remained silent before standing up, turning his head to glance off into the distance before returning to look in your general direction.

Uncanny: We are out of time. Hate me... despise me... resent me for the rest of our existence but I simply ask that you don't let Makima win. I will help keep you together one last time... for this final battle but know this... This little game of ours... this experiment is over. You will rejoin the fold and Uncanny Valley... we... will be reborn again in our proper form. We will retake our proper place and things will return to normal.

(Y/n): Fuck you. What about the other's huh? Or our memories? Do we just magically meld together like some manga characters or something? 

Uncanny took the chance to dust off his suit before simply stretching out a gloved hand to you.

Uncanny: You have no reason to trust me just as I have no reason to believe you have changed since we parted. But for now, we must point that hatred at Makima before we are both slaughtered and turned into puppets of her perfect world. At the very... stop thinking solely with your meaty human brain and use your devil instincts to sense that you are and will die unless you accept my offer and take this contract.

You opened your mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. You were pretty much dead anyway. This figure had the power to end you at any moment... Makima was apparently trying to end you and who knows what is going on with the others since you didn't run to their aid like it was planned... Perhaps they are already dead or clinging to life. But to a certain extent Uncanny... no... You were right. Beneath the hormones and cascading emotions resided the instinctual desire to survive and forge past this fate. But... Uncanny could simply be lying... trying to lure you in during a weakened moment for some horrible nefarious plot. Maybe Makima was the one you should seek out? It didn't feel right but staring from the corpse of Mafuyu up to this strange creature's hand certainly didn't make you feel any better.

(Y/n): I... I don't want to disappear. I want to be me...

Uncanny: You will be. It will be us. Just like it was before.

(Y/n): That's some hive-mind bullshit, huh? Why should I trust you?

Uncanny: I believe there is a human saying... "The devil you know"? Makima may hold the leash to keep your eyes on her... but you know me. You know us whether you recognize it or not. 

The outstretched hand inched a bit closer as your eyes trailed down to look at your hand. What.. should you do... You couldn't figure it out anymore. The world was filled with pain and you couldn't stomach one more moment in it. But your instincts called out to the survivor in your blood. You had been at the brink of death before and spurned it rather than welcomed it. Sorrow and guilt coursed through you like a sickening drug dulling your senses but you still couldn't find a reason to give in. The others needed you... Makima needed you but... You apparently needed yourself as well. 

Your hand lifted slightly toward Uncanny's... and the fate of the world would forever change.